2018

By referencing the form in the painting Venus of Urbino by Titian, I am endeavouring to make sense of the temptress in a contemporary space with a cheeky twist of title.

Using ancient bronze casting methods, I am transforming a traditional subject into a contemporary idea through abstraction. My aim with this sculpture is to offer a complexity that reflects the convolution of the life of the contemporary urban woman. Intended to be light hearted, my Venus of Urbano is a play on words but also has a certain gravitas In her contemporaneity. Seductive in pose, she is elegant, playful and complex all at once. She feels distracted and resigned at times, somewhat overwhelmed by the weight of her world and has become ultimately a complex abstraction of many emotions.

I combine flat planes and twisted shapes into varying forms of bronze cast pieces, welded together in a free flowing rhythm. I’ve created a pose that takes the eye on a meandering journey through the formal lines and planes. Oscillating between elegance, light-heartedness and a sense of being weighted into the ground. Much like the modern day urban female navigating a complex role in society.

About the Artist

Fiona completed a BFA at the National Art School majoring in Sculpture in 2016 and in 2017 won the Clyde & Co Emerging Artist Award. Fiona works with formalist theories to invent shapes and relationships in space that are based in abstraction. Working in the round is important in order to imbue the work with a shape changing ability when viewing from various reference points. Her work in bronze has been acquired by both local and international collectors, and she continues to develop her practice between her Leichhardt studio and her workplace in the Hunter Valley.